Rise in attacks on Jewish pupils – 23 February 2024
THE war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has triggered a massive increase in abuse of Jewish people in the UK – including children.
Israel is a Jewish country. On 7 October, Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, invaded Israel, killing more than 1,000 people and taking others hostage. Since then, Israel has bombarded Gaza with rockets. Hamas sources say more than 29,000 people in Gaza have died, including over 10,000 children.
The Community Security Trust (CST) is a group that monitors anti-Semitism (incidents of hatred towards Jewish people) in the UK. It says that in the 12-week period from the start of the war on 7 October until the end of 2023, there were 2,699 incidents of anti-Semitism in the UK. That’s a massive 589% increase on the 392 incidents that were recorded during the same period in 2022.
In other words, there were over five times more anti-Semitism incidents than the year before.
Some of those incidents involve attacks on schoolchildren. In 2023, the CST recorded 87 incidents of anti-Semitism towards Jewish pupils and staff at Jewish schools and 127 at non-religious schools. A further 111 incidents involved Jewish children outside of school.
Mark Gardner, the chief executive of the CST, said: “The explosion in hatred against our community is an absolute disgrace. It occurs in schools, universities, workplaces, on the streets and social media.”
James Cleverly, the home secretary, said the Government has increased funding for security at Jewish schools. Labour’s Yvette Cooper said: “We must not allow events unfolding internationally to play out in increased hatred and prejudice here in our communities.”
Published Friday 23 February 2024
Picture credit: Getty
